Author / Edward Champion
Roundup
- A treasure trove of Quiet, Please.
- Jennifer Weiner on the most recent Oprah book pick.
- George Saunders on Colbert.
- Now see here! Ian McEwan insists that On Chesil Beach is a novel, because the text has been cleverly spread out across the course of 200 pages. LEAVE IAN ALONE! He can’t help the way in which his “novel” (Novel, ha! Boy, it took me about a few hours to read that!) has been marketed by his publishers. Instead of bitching and moaning, why not write your own “novel” of 40,000 words and then see how you feel? In fact, I plan to ensure that another novel I’m working on, On Brighton Beach, which is only a mere 2,000 words, will be nominated for a fiction prize somewhere. Novel, schmovel — when you get right down to it, everything’s flexible in the end.
- Gilbert Hernandez is the John Lennon of comics? So does this mean that R. Crumb is the Phil Spector of comics? And stretch, and stretch, and bang that profile out in time. And pad, and pad, the deadline’s hard. So do it! (via The Beat
- There’s a strict new Chicago law that has banned the door-to-door distribution of flyers and circulars, but it may have a harmful effect on free newspapers. Sure, this will mean less free menus for dodgy Chinese restaurants jammed underneath your door. (Personally, I use these for origami.) But be careful what you wish for. There’s a downside to everything.
- When the revolution comes, I hope they remember that smug reactionary assholes like John Aravosis were against non-discrimination before they were for it. Listen, Aravosis, are you aware of Brandon Teena (conspicuously unmentioned in your piece)? Nobody questions why the T was attached to LGBT because we’re talking about a collective group that has been marginalized, ridiculed, assaulted, and stereotyped for many decades and anybody who is even remotely humanist understands that this is all about making a united front to put an end to discrimination. Thus, having as many people of differing sexual persuasions uniting together is a way to finally address the disparity between straight heterosexual relationships and the LGBT community. That you would want to tear this community apart by asking such an imbecile question or that you would propose that some within the LGBT community are more entitled to non-discrimination than others is a sure sign that you aren’t part of the solution. The LGBT community behind ENDA has displayed more courage and gravitas than most of the weak-kneed Democrats who insist upon compromising here or “alienating” there or remaining fearful that the “religious right” will kill something. Well, fuck the religious right. And fuck you, Mr. Aravosis. Please resurface when your big fat head isn’t so thoroughly lodged up your own asshole and you aren’t such a coward about human progress.
Freedom’s Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose
Nine Inch Nails: “Hello everyone. I’ve waited a LONG time to be able to make the following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate. Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008. Exciting times, indeed.”
With Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead now operating without record contracts, perhaps the music industry might want to reconsider precisely how it conducts business. The artists and the listeners are not the enemies. The industry’s continued litigation towards online music listeners, the industry’s sustained avarice towards artists locked into unfair contracts, and the industry’s failure to embrace inevitability collectively suggest that we may very well be witnessing a remarkable revolution that may will leave knock the remaining wind out of record companies. These are indeed exciting times. And one can only ponder whether we will see comparable effects in film and television. Is it too idealistic to suggest that the means of production may very well be returning to the workers?
Roundup
- I’m currently recovering from a pleasant night of celebration on a boat in the East River that involved a Supreme Court Justice and a jet ski task force. (No, I am not making this up. I could not make this up.) All manner of strange ideas have entered my head, because I am a bad and overly imaginative person. So bear with me.
- Bill Benson has asked a very interesting question: When did the New York Times begin to write snarky articles about the MLA? If you can help him out, leave a comment for the man.
- Behold: The Blog of Disquiet.
- Now here is an interesting thesis: the dwindling taste buds of boomers has spawned a niche market of hot, hot, hot sauce.
- If you’re a Wes Anderson hater, blame these folks.
- Brian Wilson will be performing with the English National Ballet.
- So how did the New York Times find out about Blackwater? Good old-fashioned police reporting. Let this be a reminder to journalists of all persuasions. Keep tracking down leads, keep asking questions. Never give up, never surrender. The story finds itself.
- James Wood on Zuckerman, if you’re not burned out by Exit Ghost coverage.
- The Mumpsimus hosts an interview with Thomas Ligotti.
- One of Jeff Parker’s “former high school shadows” writes about him.
- The Telegraph has been serializing Ted Hughes’s letters.
- Canadian hockey you haven’t seen before.
- The 9 Manliest Names in the World.
- Giuliani sees 9/11 everywhere.
- The WaPo is the latest books section to enter into blogging. But I’m wondering why newspaper book blogs are taken with two word designations.
Another Blogger Hits the LATBR
Today, Maud makes her LATBR debut, reviewing Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader. I believe that now makes six bloggers who have appeared in the LATBR, rivaled only by the Philly Inquirer.